Bastian Schweinsteiger has been offered a very lucrative contract by Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire, which would make him the highest paid player in the history of US Soccer.
Since Jose Mourinho was appointed as manager, things have only gone downhill for Schweinsteiger. He was exiled from first team training back in August and was made to train with the reserves for a while. Speaking on the exile, Mourinho said that he thought it was difficult to see the World Cup winner returning to the first team. “I think it’s very difficult to happen. I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’m saying it’s very difficult.” It was only toward the end of October when he was recalled to first team training, but he is still yet to feature this season.
Clubs such as Juventus, Galatasaray and Besiktas were rumoured to be interested in the player. It was also reported that his contract would be terminated, and in September it was reported that Schweinsteiger was demanding a huge severance package, estimated to be around £13.8m, to leave the Theatre Of Dreams with 18 months remaining on his contract.
According to a report in Goal.com, the Bayern Munich legend has been offered a massive $5.5 million a year by Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire, to swap Old Trafford for the Toyota Park. The report states that Veljko Paunovic, who is the coach of CFSC, met with the midfielder in Manchester earlier this month to discuss a switch. The offer is for 3 years, which means the former German international will earn around $16.5 million during this time, should he decide to make the switch.
In what has become a trend essentially started by Manchester United great David Beckham, legendary players who have spent most of their careers in Europe such as David Villa, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Didier Drogba and Andrea Pirlo among others have been moving Stateside after being offered lucrative deals to see out the last few years of their careers in the USA’s top flight.
A move to the USA would allow the 32-year-old Schweinsteiger to finally get some regular game time after not even featuring once this season for Jose Mourinho. There is a lot of competition for places in midfield with Pogba, Herrera, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Blind all capable of playing that position and his relationship with the Portuguese manager does not look like it’s going to mend anytime soon. He is reportedly still evaluating his options, so if we do get to see him strut his stuff in Europe one last time, it certainly doesn’t seem like it will be at United as long as Jose Mourinho is in charge.
